Tom Powers: Twins' Brian Dozier enjoys labor of love

Twins second baseman Brian Dozier Dozie and his fiance spent a week in November helping install a clean water system in a small community in Nicaragua. (File photo by J. Meric/Getty Images)

It has been an interesting offseason for Twins second baseman Brian Dozier, who spent part of it digging ditches in Nicaragua.

"We'd wake at 6 a.m., eat a little breakfast. Mostly we lived on rice and beans the whole time we were down there," Dozier said. "Grab a pickax and a shovel and work until about 4. We had to dig four feet deep and a thousand feet long. And this wasn't any Mississippi mud; it was rock hard and very challenging."

Dozier laughed at the recollection. He truly enjoyed the experience. In fact, it meant so much to him that he made sure his wife-to-be, Renee, came along to share it with him.

"She was good," Dozier said. "She grabbed a pickax."

Never let it be said that Brian Dozier doesn't know how to show a girl a good time.

Dozier, 26, and his fiancee spent a week in November helping install a clean water system in a small community in Nicaragua. They went as part of a mission group from the international organization Amigos for Christ.

"This is something I've always thought about doing," Dozier said. "I've always wanted to do it. I'm getting married, and so we talked about it, and it was an unbelievable experience. I'm telling you, people don't realize the stuff that goes on there -- the crime and just how they live.

"One day, we didn't dig. We delivered a cow and a pig. On those roads, it was three hours going and three hours coming. We delivered it so those people could have milk. They earn one or two dollars a day.

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Now they'll be able to have all the cheese they can make and maybe make four or five dollars."

It's a wonderful story that sort of reinforces the notion of human kindness. Actually, I think most professional athletes are socially conscious and try to help those who are less fortunate. But not many roll up their sleeves and deliver cows along the back roads.

The best part of the story is that Dozier tried his hardest to go as a private citizen and not as a major league baseball player.

The mission group he accompanied consisted mostly of high school kids from Atlanta. Being from Mississippi and fairly new to the big leagues, Dozier wasn't immediately recognized. That's exactly what he had hoped for: no special status.

"I didn't want it to be any other way," he said. "For the most part, they had no idea. But sure enough, one of the guys on the trip was from Minneapolis and a big Twins fan. He made it a point to tell everybody."

So Dozier expanded his days to make time to play catch and talk baseball with a few of the local kids.

"We'd really like to make this a yearly thing," Dozier said.

Dozier gets married on Jan. 4. Hey, if he's found a girl who will follow him around with a pickax and a shovel, he's obviously found Mrs. Right. He's also fixing up a house in Mississippi (not far from Brett Favre's place) and doing his best to keep the duck population of the Magnolia State under control.

"Every chance I get," he said with a laugh. "It's a big hunting offseason."

After failing to win the Twins' shortstop job in 2012, Dozier took hold of second base in 2013. He played exceptionally well in the field, exceeding expectations. At the plate, he was good for 18 home runs and 33 doubles, picking up momentum as the season progressed. The team may be unsettled, but there is no question as to who will be at second base.

"You don't want to think of it like that," he cautioned. "I'm not locked into anything. I still have a lot of things to work on, things that were brought to light last year.

Brian DozierDozier took hold of the second base job in 2013. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

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Which is exactly what he is supposed to say. But he is comfortable enough, at least, to pay more attention to the big picture.

"I want to win baseball games more than anything," he said. "I'm tracking this free-agent thing probably way more than I should. We've got a lot to prove. I know I can speak for my teammates when I say last season left a bad taste in our mouth. The fans deserve better than that."